Paul Ryan’s Futile Attempt at Millennial Damage Control

The day after Donald Trump’s big wins across the Northeast, Paul Ryan is making yet another futile attempt to mitigate the damage that Donald Trump continues to cause down-ballot Republicans. At the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service today, Paul Ryan will speak to millennials and attempt to convey why they should get more #confident in Republicans.

Really, this visit should not be shocking: it’s a desperate attempt by Paul Ryan to distract from Donald Trump and lessen the vast damage that he is causing for down-ballot Republicans amongst key groups of voters – today, millennials. But it won’t work.

First, there is no coming back from Donald Trump’s historic negative ratings with millennials, and the irreparable harm caused to the Republican brand:

According to a recent Harvard poll: “Millennials largely reject Trump, the leading Republican candidate. He has the highest negative ratings of any of the candidates included in the survey: 74 percent have an unfavorable view of Trump compared with 17 percent who have a favorable view of the billionaire businessman. Among millennials who identify as Republican, Trump’s numbers remain 20 points underwater in terms of favorability (37 percent positive to 57 percent negative).”

Second, Paul Ryan and House Republicans have long promoted an agenda that is contrary to the priorities of millennials. Repeatedly Republicans have failed millennials on key issues that matter to them: investing in our economy and jobs, improving college affordability, combatting climate change, and prioritizing health care and a woman’s right to choose.

“Once again, Paul Ryan is trying to mitigate the destruction of the Trump forest fire with a faulty, ineffective squirt gun. We already know that Donald Trump has historically low support amongst millennials, but the suggestion that Paul Ryan and House Republicans might be able to make up for that damage is laughable. For too long, House Republicans have failed millennials by failing to prioritize women, students, healthcare, climate and so much more,” said Meredith Kelly of the DCCC.

#RyanRealityCheck

Speaker Paul Ryan took over the reins of the unruly House Republican Conference with lofty ambitions for a "Year of Ideas." Follow this space as we bring the Speaker back down to Earth, with the help of the House Freedom Caucus and the GOP presidential field.